Brooklyn born and bred hardcore rap act M.O.P. recently cleared months of speculation and announced they have signed with Roc-A-Fella Records. Their currently untitled album is scheduled to drop in early 2003, according to reps for The Roc.

Lil Fame, half of the rap portion of M.O.P., said he nor partner Billy Danz have no intention of changing their gritty, rough style, despite being a part of a larger corporate label than their previous situation with Loud Records.

We gonna keep it MOP. They want MOP for MOP, man. We cant go over there and change the game. We not gonna go over there changing the game. We not gonna change. First of all, we gotta be niggas first. So we not going to change if from our handful of thugs when we ain’t have sh*t to now with somebody giving up something and change the game – nah,” Lil Fame told AllHipHop.com.

Fame reserved his kindest words for Dame Dash, who has pursued the group feverishly since Loud Records folded.

I respect Dame Dash. Dame Dash reached out to us. He helped us fight to get up off the label we was on. That’s extra love to that nigga and we gotta bring the MOP that he wants, he said.

The group recently leaked “You Don’t Know (remix)” featuring Jay-Z to mixtape and internet, but AllHipHop received conflicting reports as to where the track will eventually appear. Representatives at Roc-A-Fella said the song would be for promotion only, but close affiliates of M.O.P. suggested the song would appear on the album.

Currently, M.O.P. can be seen along side Nore and Cam’ron on the Paid In Full tour (often incorrectly referred to at the Survival of the Illest 2 tour), which started today (October 10).